


at the closing of the day

by Anonymous



Category: Hogan's Heroes
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 16:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The Allies have come to liberate the camp.





	at the closing of the day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sarren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarren/gifts).

The Allies located Stalag 13 with no difficulty, not after all the drops, reports, and defectors that had passed through over the years. The guards had known the end was coming. Many had slipped away in the night, trickling into the darkness back to their homes and families. A few had stayed, stalwart or stupid to the end. Schultz had nowhere else to go, not anymore, and he'd known for longer than he would admit who was really in charge of the prison camp. Fear grew on his face as the tanks approached. The men took him back into the barracks, cheering him up with a last meal from LeBeau.

"We'll speak up for you," Newkirk promised. "You've been good to us, for a Kraut."

Hogan barely paid attention as the others comforted the man. "I'll be out," he told them abruptly, and went outside, making a beeline for Klink's office.

Fraulein Hilda had made her escape to the Allies three months ago. Hogan went to Klink's door and knocked.

"No one is here!"

"Colonel," Hogan said with a disarming smile as he entered. "How are you this fine Spring morning?"

Klink sat at his desk, hands in his thin hair. "I think I would rather be at the Russian front."

Hogan sat on his desk, one leg on the floor to steady himself. "Now, Colonel, that's no way to talk."

"You only say so because you are about to be freed. Your Allies are coming this way, and they'll have me in front of a firing squad by sunset. Hogan, I am doomed."

A clench hit his heart at the utter despondency. "You've got our sides wrong. You Nazis would put me up in front of a firing squad if our positions were reversed. The Allies believe in a court of law. You'll be our prisoner for a while, and go to trial."

He let out a short laugh. "And you'll be my jailer? Does that mean I get to run rings around you and help the Underground with Schultz while you look the other way?"

Hogan froze. He'd suspected for a long time. Klink played up being a fool, but they all played games here. "How long have you known?"

"Does it matter?"

"You could have turned us in."

Klink looked up at him at last. There was something in his eyes Hogan couldn't read, and he prided himself on reading people, especially this man. "They would have taken you away." Another despondency filled him, one Hogan had never imagined. "Now here you are going away." He said, mostly to himself and with a thin sort of triumphant pride, "But you're leaving alive!"

Hogan had used every tool at his disposal to get the things he needed to keep his men safe and his cell alive and useful to the cause. He was expected to charm women, and so he had whenever possible. The men never needed to know why Hogan was just as happy to let those women wander out of his life as soon as they wandered in. He'd assumed he would wait until he was back Stateside and out of the military before he risked looking for a man again.

"You wanted me here." He almost didn't add the last word. His own safety had always meant hiding under jokes and extra deniability.

Maybe Klink didn't care about either any longer, not with the tanks rumbling ever closer. "I was afraid it was too obvious. I thought General Burkhalter would figure it out, and that would be the end for me. But he never did."

"You knew, and you protected us. Protected me."

"I could do nothing else."

There were shouts from the edge of the camp. The Allies were here, and everyone else was focused on the days to come. Hogan was staring at the days about to end, and what he was about to lose that he'd never known was his.

He took Klink's jaw in his hand and kissed him hard. Hogan hadn't kissed another man in four years. As Klink's mouth opened, he wondered if Klink had ever done so.

When he pulled back, Klink's eyes were bright with the edge of tears. "Hogan, I didn't think you cared." He stopped, shaking his head sadly. "You don't. This is another trick."

"No more tricks." He took Klink's hands, and swallowed a grin. This wasn't the first time he wasn't on a first name basis with a lover. "We'll all speak for you. You treated us well. You supported the cause. They might even give you a medal."

"I don't want a medal."

Hogan kissed him again. The others would be busy for a while, what with getting liberated. They had some time to figure out what they both wanted, and that started with Klink reaching for his face and kissing him back.


End file.
